Bunny Man by Ed Bisese, acrylic on canvas, 54×54, 2009

>> While it’s well known that technology has impacted our daily lives, we don’t often think about how much it is impacting art. Join a panel of museum leaders from Spain, Latin America and the U.S. at the Hirshhorn Museum as they discuss “The Role of Contemporary Art Museums in the Twenty-First Century.” Panelists include Manuel J. Borja-Villel, Director, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía; Richard Koshalek, Director, Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; and Natalia Majluf, Director, Museo de Arte de Lima. Selma Holo, Director, International Museum Institute, will moderate. Thursday, 3:30 to 5 p.m.

>> Most artists want to keep an air of mystery around their creative process, but the twelve local artists who have pieces in Planning Process are willing to show viewers the man behind the curtain. On display next to finished artworks will be the notes, doodles, scribbles and drafts that were created first. An opening reception will be held at the Arlington Arts Center on Thursday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. for both Planning Process and Damsels & Daemons by Rachel Schmidt. Schmidt’s work introduces viewers to her world of double-identities and make-believe friends. Don’t forget to bring your make-believe friends; I’m sure they’d appreciate the opportunity to get out of the house.

>> The PODS are coming. Are you ready? Lauren K. Sleat and Gallery plan b hope so. Using organic material found on the beaches in Provincetown, Massachusetts as inspiration, Sleat created charcoal drawings that cover differing themes. In one group she uses class, race, sexuality, and politics as a way to examine topics such as slavery, genocide, and deviant political ideology. In the other group, the work is more loose and organic, Sleat’s way of freeing herself from the mentally and emotionally exhausting effort she puts into her political artwork. Similar black and white work from other local artists will also be on display during this exhibit. Join the artists for an opening reception on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m.

>> Patrick Hughes, Eve Stockton, Sondra Arkin and Natasha Karpinskaia may all create work in completely different mediums, but they will all be participating in the Creative Process exhibition at Long View Gallery. Hughes creates perspective paintings that look like moving pictures, Stockton uses her background in science and love of nature to create contemporary, multi-layered woodblock prints, Arkin creates a world of organic forms through her exploration of encaustics, and Karpinskaia uses her command of color to challenge the norm with her abstract monotype prints. Opening reception Thursday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

>> Remember when you used to take photos with 110 film in your pink Barbie camera, then you’d get the film developed and rush home to put the resulting images in your photo album? Sure, half the photos were out of focus or involved your finger covering part of the image — but they were memories! To be cherished! An expression of yourself through photographs! Or, you know, 24 pictures of your dog sleeping. Today, physical photo albums no longer hold the same interest, now that digital imagery and online photo storage have become so widely available and easy to use. Verna Curtis, the curator of photography at the Library of Congress will be at the Corcoran Gallery of Art on Thursday evening to discuss album projects that she covered in her new book, including Walker Evans’ images from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and Edward Sheriff Curtis’ 1899 expedition album. 7 p.m. $12 member, $15 non-member.

>> This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and as a part of a year-long calendar of Civil War-related events, the Civil War Trust and Willard InterContinental are presenting a three-dimensional photographic exhibit of images created between 1861 and 1865. The Civil War introduced the art of photojournalism to the world and many of the images were captured with stereoscopic cameras, the original 3-D. The exhibition will feature more than three dozen stereoscopic photos that can be viewed using special 3-D glasses that will be provided by the hotel. On Friday, the presentation, “Civil War Washington in Pictures,” will be held in the hotel’s Peacock Lounge. Historian Garry Adelman will offer a unique view into Washington during the War. 2:30 p.m. Free admission.

>> Things will be heating up on Friday night at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, as they bring the worlds of music and art together into the wonderful creation known as Gaia at the Corcoran: Midsummer Night. Gaia is a D.C.-based group of musicians, DJs, singers and dancers that will actively be bringing in the art and architecture of the Corcoran into their performance. Part concert, part performance art, part nightclub, the evening is sure to be a good time. 7 to 11 p.m. $30 members, $40 non-members.

Art Notes:

• The Zenith Community Arts Foundation is hosting a meet the artists reception for The Spirit of Wood: Sculpture by Katie Dell Kaufman and Lynda Smith-Bugge at the Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space this evening from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
• Inspired by the Temple Dendur’s move from Egypt to New York’s Metropolitan Museum, Leila Holtsman has created a 100-foot long “Frieze” by screen-printing sheets of steel with found imagery, which will be on display at the Artisphere. Opening reception Thursday, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
• Studio Gallery will host an artists’ reception on Friday for solo show Aerial View by Suzanne Goldberg and duo show Figure and Landscape Drawings by Sally Levie and Figure Sculptures by Trish Palasik. 6 to 8 p.m.
• In an exhibition tailor-made for the DCist commentariat (are any of you in the show?) the artists participating in BITE: identity and humor at the Greater Reston Arts Center attempt to expose the issues of personal struggle in society through irony, sarcasm and wit. Might there be a photocollage of Molly and Poopy the Magic Hobo? Probably not, but you never know! Opening reception 5 to 7 p.m. Juror talk at 5:30 p.m.